As cloud technology is providing users with so many benefits, these benefits must have to be categorized based on users requirement. Cloud deployment model represents the exact category of cloud environment based on proprietorship, size, and access and also describes the nature and purpose of the cloud. Most organizations implement cloud infrastructure to minimize capital expenditure & regulate operating costs.

The NIST Model

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency under the scope of US Department of Commerce which is responsible for expounding & defining standards in Science and Technology. The Computer Security Division of NISD has provided a formal definition of Cloud computing. The US government is a major consumer of computer technology and also one of the major cloud computing network users. According to the NIST working definition of cloud, deployment model is one of the two categories of model illustrated by NIST. The NIST model doesn't require cloud technology to use virtualization to share resources. Cloud support multi-tenancy; multi-tenancy is the concept of sharing of resources among two or more clients. The latest NIST model of cloud computing requires virtualization and utilizes the concept of multi-tenancy.

As the cloud computing us approaching towards a set of interacting components, such as Service-oriented Architecture, users can expect the future versions of the NIST model may include more features also.

Explaining the Deployment Model

To know which deployment model matches your requirement and desire it is necessary for users as well as learners to understand the four sub-categories of models for deployment.